In foreign articles of luxury, we find that those of English manufacture, enjoy a decided preference, and some of the warehouses are not surpassed by our most splendid shops in London. The writer says→→→→

il

"Whatever is curious, elegant and costly in the infinite varieties of furniture among the wealthiest, most luxurious and most inventive people of the globe may here be admired in specimens of every kind disposed in the most fascinating order. Glass, crystal, steel, plated goods, cabinet works of the most delicate species of wood, musical instruments, broad cloths, Manchester stuffs, &c. are arranged and displayed to view in twelve large saloons, in the greatest diversity and the most captivating profusion. A purchase to the amount of twenty or thirty thousand rubles leaves no great chasm in this costly store, as I myself have often witnessed.-In the other English magazines are partly the same and other goods; as, English cloths, stuffs, linens, hats, boots and shoes, carpets, oiled floor-cloths, mathematical and surgical instruments, registerstoves of the finest wrought steel and highly polished, horse caparizons, riding gear, &c. all in the most exquisite taste, of the most finished workmanship and in the latest fashion."

Mr. Storch enters into so satisfactory a review of the commerce and manufactures of Petersburgh and the adjacent country, that we regret our limits will not allow us to follow him. From his account of the museum of the Academy of Sciences, which extends through the objects of nature and art, and which is certainly one of the noblest collections in the world; we shall, however give a few

extracts:

The MINERAL COLLECTION, according to the most recent lists, contains upwards of ten thousand specimens, among which are 210 gold, 935 silver-ores, &c. but the number must be since considerably increased, as the pieces sent by the travelling academi cians are not comprized in those statements. The whole collec-` tion is arranged according to Wallerius, and laid up in two departments, one containing the russian and the other the foreign minerals. Among the former the most remarkable are reckoned to be two pieces of pure native gold weighing about sixty-nine ducats; a large and heavy piece of silver-ore from Behring's island; a piece of malleable copper of extraordinary magnitude, from the Copper-island lying to the east of Kamtshatka, and a lump of iron, forty pood or twelve hundred pounds in weight, which is of material consequence to natural history, by removing the doubt whether there be in general such a mineral as native iron, or at least weakens it extremely. Among the remarkable national products are also several great and powerful magnets, large and beautiful malachites, Siberian lapis lazuli, a collection of precious stones, &c.-A pyramid composed of precious stones found in the country, exhibits the variety and abundance of these species of stones as on a pattern-card. Neither is there any want of striking Russian petrifactions; for instance, a huge worm-eaten log changed into white sand-stone; two completely-mineralized

trunks of oak-trees eight or nine feet in the girt, &c.—Among the foreign minerals is a mass of native malleable gold of China, weighing upwards of a hundred ducats; somewhat above a pound of bukharian gold-dust, in small, round, malleable grains; a mass of pure malleable silver, in the shape of a horn, seven pounds in weight; a piece of native silver of such fineness, that coins have been struck from it without its having passed through the crucible, of which one is kept of this rare production; a petrified Medusa's head; the skeleton of a fish two feet and a half in length impressed in a slate, &c."

The collections from the ANIMAL KINGDOM contain almost whatever is esteemed rare and remarkable in cabinets of this nature, with many that would no where else be found, Among these last is, the only collection of its kind, the anatomical preparations of Raysch, Alling eighteen glazed presses as arranged by that great naturalist himself. Though subjects of this nature may be but little entertaining in general, yet it would be unpardonable, to pass over in perfect silence a treasure of science of such uncommon value. One part of this extraordinary collection is composed of preparations serving to elucidate the generation of man. It consists of a series of a hundred and ten embryos from the size of a grain of anise to the full-formed fœtus. Not less curious and peculiar in their kind are the preparations of the eye, of the pia mater, of the cortical and medullary substances in which Ruyschhad brought the art of injection to an amazing degree of perfec tion. The collection of preter-natural phænomena in the human body, as worms, polypes, hairs, &c. comprehends two hundred articles."

In the second division of the Museum, comprehending works of art, antiquities, instruments and models, may be seen

"Several costly BEAKERS and DRINKING VESSELS. One of them, which was a present from the king of Denmark to Catharine the first, is entirely of gold and of exquisite workmanship. The cover of it rests on three dolphins, enameled blue, and round about are inserted a number of antique and modern gems cut by the ablest artists.-The MODEL of a fountain in 'one of the public places at Rome, is likewise very remarkable. It is of silver, weighing seven pounds, and in point of workmanship passes for one of the greatest master-pieces of the kind. It represents a large rock excavated through in four places, on which are placed the statues of the four principal rivers in the world. On the summit of the rock rises an obelisk of red granite covered with hieroglyphics, which the emperor Caracalla caused to be brought to Rome, and pope Innocent the tenth erected over the fountain.Among a great variety of POIGNARDS is one, considered "as a relict of ancient Greece on account of its excellent antique sculpture. The hilt is of oriental agate, the pommel represents the judgment of Paris, the sheath combatants engaged, and at the end the sports of Cupid.",

66

Among the numerous MODELS preserved in the museum, those from the cabinet of Peter the great are particularly remarkable. Here is seen the model of a ship of war of 120 guns and another of a galley of five-and-twenty banks of rowers. Of the remaining works of art dispersed in various places, I shall only mention that stupendous piece of mechanism, the writing-desk already described in the foregoing chapter, and the mechanical performance of a Russian artist. This latter is a repeating-watch, of the form and size of an egg. The inside represents the sepulchre of Christ, which is closed by a stone and guarded by two soldiers. On opening the watch, the angels appear, the guards fall down, the stone vanishes, the holy women are seen, and the melody of a well-known Russian hymn sung at the vespers of Easter-day, is heard. This master-piece of mechanism was executed by its in ventor, under no direction whatever, and without the use of the proper tools, within the space of four years."

On the state of literature and the arts, at Petersburgh, the au, thor's remarks, though concise, are at least sufficient to excite cu riosity. He enumerates the principal writers in the various branches of composition, and illustrates his observations by several specimens from their most celebrated works. Painting, engraving, statuary, architecture, music, and even gardening, seem to be cultivated with more success than is generally imagined in England. and the operatic establishment is not inferior, with respect to the composer and performer, the skill of the machinist, or the merits of the scenery and dresses to that of any other country. The reader may form an opinion of the expence at which representations of this kind are exhibited, from the author's description of the grand serious opera of Oleg, performed while he was at Petersburgh;→

"The magnificence of the performance far exceeded every thing I had ever beheld of this kind in Paris and other capital cities. The sumptuousness of the dresses, all in the ancient Russian costume and all the jewellery genuine, the dazzling lustre of the pearls and diamonds, the armorial decorations, implements of war and other properties, the ingenuity displayed in the ever varying scenery, went far beyond even the boldest expectation. Here were seen romantic regions, sailing fleets, towns and the proud battlements of antique palaces. The audience were pre sent at the deliberations of the chiefs and at the domestic entertainments of the princes, in which the usages and the tastes of the days of yore were represented in a surprizing and delightful manner. Choirs of bards celebrated in lofty strains the exploits of the heroes. At the court of the Grecian emperor, Oleg is re ceived with magnificent solemnities; at the opening of the last act, on the rising the curtain, a spacious circus appeared, and on the tribunes around it the Grecian court and a vast concourse of the people as spectators. Here were held games of every species; gladiators contending in single combat; others running at the ring; till at length, a second curtain vanished, and a stage appeared on which a dramatic piece was represented."

We

We shall close our extracts from this interesting work with an account, highly honorable to the British character, of the English resident at Petersburgh:

"The ENGLISH stationary in St. Petersburgh are mostly mer chants, acquire and expend a great deal of money, live like their countrymen at home; and of all the foreigners, enjoy the most consideration and respect."

"They learn the language of the country, their business rendering it necessary to them, and accommodate themselves to the customs of the place as far as they are compatible with their native manners. Their national consequence, which they justly value themselves upon at home in their own island, never forsakes them abroad, and likewise raises them here, not only in their own opinion, but in that of all mankind, above either Russians or foreigners."

"In the houses of the Britons settled here a competent idea may be formed of the English manner of living. Furniture, meals, establishment; every thing is English-even to the chimney-fire. Here where wood is in such plenty, the Englishman fetches his coals from home."

"The Galeerenhof, one of the finest districts of the city. was formerly almost entirely occupied by the English, and it was therefore commonly called the English Line. At the same time that these noble mansions are suitable to the honor in which their inhabitants were held, their situation on the quay of the Neva, renders the situation of the English here the most enviable of any capital in Europe. They have since been supplanted by the prineipal Russian noblemen, and some German merchants have got i."

"The English in all public transactions act by one common spirit, very much to their honor. If it be possible at any time to save the credit of a mercantile house it is done. Some years ago the wooden house of an Englishman in moderate circumstances, was accidentally burnt down: the day following he received a present of several thousand rubles raised among his countrymen by voluntary contribution. What sums they lately raised for the relief of their countrymen the sailors and commanders sent up the country by the order of the emperor Paul, is fresh in every one's memory."

We wish the author had been as faithful an observer of truth in his dedication to the late Empress, as he appears to be throughout his book. Our readers may be inclined to smile at the following passage:

"I have had the delicious pleasure of arranging facts which would add glory to the mild lustre of a Marcus Aurelius, surpass the splendour of an Augustus, and furnish materials for the history of an age."

What is the "Exegi monumentum ære peremius" of Horace to this flourish?

The

The translator has executed his task with fidelity. In the title page is given a neat vignette, representing Peter the great occupied in his design of constructing the city, and to the work is prefixed a plan of Petersburgh, with a copious and accurate expla

nation.

Sentimental Beauties from the Writings of the late Dr. Blair. To rahich are now added some interesting passages from his last volume of Sermons, Selected with a view to refine the Taste, correct the Judgment, and mould the Heart to Virtue. With a Sketch of the Life of the Author. The fifth Edition, 12mo. 35. 6d. Hurst. 1801..

.. The editor appears to have been induced to make the improve ments announced in the title page, from the rapid and extensive sale which has attended the former publications of the work. The sketch of Dr. Blair's life consists of extracts from Dr. Finlayson's account of his life and character, added to the last volume of the sermons.

Of the work itself we are called upon to remark, that it is in all its topics judiciously arranged and connected, and of the motives and ends of such selections, we cannot express our opinion better, than by quoting the language used by Dr. Johnson in the second volume of his Idier. This profound critic observes with his accustomed strength of thought;-"Writers of extensive comprehen sion have incidental remarks upon topics very remote from the prin cipal subjects, which are often more valuable than formal treatises, and which yet are not known, because they are not promised in the title. He that collects those under proper heads is very laudably em ployed, for though he exerts no great abilities in the work, he faci litates the progress of others, and by making that easy of attainment, which is already written, may give some mind, more vigorous, or more adventurous than his own, leisure for new thoughts and priginal designs."

A short but comprehensive System of Classical Geography; exhibiting 1st. a Description of the several Empires, Kingdoms, and Provinces, their Cities, Torns, Rivers, and Mountains, mentioned in the Greek and Reman Classics, Homer, Virgil, Xenophen, Cæsar, Livy, &c. Sc. 2nd. An accurate Abridgement of the whole Eneid of Virgil, and Odyssey of Homer, in a Gographical description of the Voyages of Æneas and Ulysses; with the Travels and Voyages of Saint Paul. Adapted for the Use of Schools. Illustrated with a new Set of Maps, corrected from the best Ancient Historians and Geographers. By the Rev. R. Turner, L. L. D. with a Recommendatory Preface by John Evans, M. A. 12mo. Hurst, 1801.

A knowledge of classical geography is no doubt necessary to obLain an intimate acquaintance with the beauties of the Greek and' Roman writers, particularly of the historians and epic poets; and this little volume is admirably adapted to oonvey to students cor